Another repeat FA Cup Final- Arsenal and Chelsea.

Another repeat FA Cup Final - Arsenal and Chelsea.

Oh well here we go again. I'm going to call it Repeat FA Cup Final syndrome. Arsenal will meet Chelsea in the 2017 FA Cup Final which is a repetition of the 2002 FA Cup Final when the same teams contested that year's FA Cup Final. I'm beginning to feel a sense of deja vu because it all sounds very familiar and although far from being bitter, it occurrs to me that this recurring theme is turning into a predictable plot.

Now of course the historians and fact finders will doubtless remind us that Arsenal have also been involved in two other Repeat Cup Finals. There was the Gunners 1979 FA Cup Final meeting with Manchester United, a five goal thriller finally decided by the very 1970s looking Alan Sunderland, all natty moustache and afro hairstyle with almost the last gasp winner. In that Final the magnificent midfield trio of  David Price, Graham Rix and the extraordinarily talented Irishman Liam Brady had all conspired, schemed, prompted and probed in the middle of the old Wembley Stadium before bringing the FA Cup back to Highbury.

Then 12 years ago Arsenal met up with their fierce adversaries Manchester United again as if somehow pre-ordained by fate. This was to be the last Cup Final played at the Millennium Stadium at Cardiff and by the end of extra time both Arsenal and Manchester United had fought each other to a standstill. Now exhausted and battle hardened the two teams took their respective penalties. When Arsenal captain Patrick Viera stepped up to take the winning penalty, Arsenal fans must have been wishing that Manchester United would never darken their corridors again. It was too much and maybe familiarity had begun to breed contempt.

The Premier League meetings that were to follow both at Highbury and Old Trafford would be strangled with tension, hatred, personal vendettas and serious rivalry. Certainly Sir Alex Ferguson could barely abide Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and it all got horribly out of hand at times. Still both shook hands graciously if somewhat grudgingly at the end of a match. But Arsenal and Manchester United had that rich spice of conflict that even an Arsenal and Spurs or Manchester United and Manchester City game would have been hard pressed to match.

When Arsenal were paired with Liverpool the games had a genuine footballing air about them. But both have now encountered each other more times than they would care to remember. In 1950 Bob Paisley, then a Liverpool player and later on in life to become their much loved and deeply appreciated manager, found himself on the losing side to an Arsenal side who, although a respected and much heralded old First Division team, were yet to make any real impact on the FA Cup.

Roll forward though 51 years to the 2001 FA Cup Final and fortunes were reversed. Now Arsenal were a side of pedigree and stature. Players like Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Patrick Viera and the stylish England midfield player Ray Parlour had hitherto given Liverpool a run for their money. For most of that Cup Final Arsenal had outpassed their opponents and were very much the dominant force. But then it all unravelled quite distressingly for Arsenal and when Michael Owen wheeled away to score Liverpool's winning goal, it seemed that the scales of  injustice had swung back in Liverpool's favour. And Liverpool went on to win the Cup Final.

Exactly 50 years earlier both Arsenal and Liverpool had come head to head once again in the FA Cup Final.  It was to prove one of Arsenal's most spectacular of seasons. Liverpool, who would shortly win every conceivable trophy, slugged out one of those FA Cup Finals that would be discussed and analysed in every pub and club in Britain for many years.

It would be celebrated and eulogised by most of the game's passionate pundits. It was a game that ebbed and flowed from end to end, constantly in the balance to its breathless end. Arsenal attacked and then attacked once again with a dash and zest that seemed to light up the afternoon. Eddie Kelly, Peter Storey, George Graham, Charlie George and Frank Mclintock battled doggedly with their Merseyside counterparts in rising tidal waves of ruggedly relentless football.

Then Liverpool with their notable and illustrious team of Steve Heighway, Brian Hall, Chris Lawler and the smoothly skilled Ian Callaghan, peeled back the layers of a seemingly indestructible Arsenal defence and scored the opening goal. Steve Heighway, a tall, elegant winger, picked up the ball on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, wriggled, shimmied, jinked and teased the Arsenal defence before thrashing the ball past a helpless Bob Wilson who had been a sturdy Arsenal keeper up until that point.

But now it was time for the gallant Arsenal comeback which seemed miraculous given the fact that Liverpool looked as if they'd taken control of the game. Arsenal swarmed forward in search of the equaliser and were not to be denied. Suddenly in a confusing melee in the Liverpool penalty area, the ball squirmed through for Eddie Kelly, who may have been credited with the goal but then found that George Graham had got the last touch for Arsenal's equaliser.

Once again Arsenal surged forward to claim an FA Cup and frequently knocked on Liverpool's now firmly shut defensive door. But  Arsenal charged forward almost consistently and with the game now  reaching its boiling point the Gunners produced one major and what would prove a last constructive attack. The ball was moved swiftly across the Liverpool penalty area via John Radford and co. and Charlie George, Arsenal born and bred, controlled the ball and with one movement, drilled the ball past Liverpool goal keeper Ray Clemence. Soon mayhem ensued.

Charlie George, the Arsenal poster boy and devoted Arsenal fan, slumped to his knees, glanced up at the late spring blue sky and then discovered that his winning goal had been decisive, With greasy, lanky hair now drenched in sweat, George stayed on his back for what seemed ages. Arsenal had achieved another FA Cup Final victory again against Liverpool, a story that could never have been made up because it was true and was happening.

So folks there you have it. After another exhausting League season and all the fun of the fair at the top of the Premier League, Arsenal have seemingly salvaged something from their season. It is hard to imagine what might happen if Spurs win the Premier League and Arsenal are beaten by Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. North London could be a very interesting place this summer. Still all being well I'm hoping to catch up with some cricket this summer so I'm not sure whether I care one way or the other. The balance of power, as they say is finally poised. Every so often the BBC devote some of its schedules to the repeat season. Now seems as good a time as any. Well done Arsenal.